Book Review: The Shack by William P. Young

The Shack By William P. Young / Windblown Media Mackenzie Allen Philips’ youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his “Great Sadness,” Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack’s world forever. In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant “The Shack” wrestles with the timeless question, “Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?” The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him. You’ll want everyone you know to read this book!

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Kelly’s Review:

I purchased this book over the weekend after reading a recommendation for it in a friend’s online journal. I actually didn’t set out to get it, but we were at Lifeway and when I saw it I remembered her recommendation, so we bought it. I’m so glad we did!! This book tells an amazing story and the messages contained within it are truly powerful.

I am mixed on how to properly review The Shack because at different points in the book, I had different reactions to it. There were times when I was saddened by the events of the story. There were times when I was moved. There were times when, honestly, I was confused. There were even times when I felt it was going way out in an weird direction. But, it kept pulling me in and pulling me back to reading. The story and the messages are powerful. Even through sadness, confusion, oddity and even elation, I just felt like I was supposed to be reading the book. I felt that I needed to take in the overall message and not get lost in the subtleties elsewhere. And, I did. I had to force myself to put it down at times and take a break from reading. I had to make myself slow down and embrace the message. And, yes, sometimes I had to make myself pick it back up again. It was worth it all. I came through this book with such an uplifted spirit.  I’m so glad I read it and I can recommend it without any reservation whatsoever. This book didn’t change my life, but it touched my heart and gave me some beautiful insights that I appreciate so much. That is what I would like to see shared with others.

I may have more to share on this later. But, for now these are the words that have come to me and I hope they are adequate to express how much I enjoyed this book. It blessed my heart and I have no reservation in recommending it to others.